Aqueous Zn-metal batteries have been recognized as promising energy storage devices due to their high theoretical energy density and cost-effectiveness. However, side reactions and Zn dendrite growth during cycling limit their practical application. Herein, we investigated methylammonium acetate as an electrolyte additive to enhance the reversibility and stability of the Zn anode. The results revealed that the acetate anions would competitively engage the Zn 2+ solvation structure to reduce the water reactivity and promote the anion-enriched structure in the electrolyte, which can efficiently suppress the byproducts and dendrite formation. These occurs thanks to the formation of an anion-derived, robust solid electrolyte interphase with an inorganic/organic hybrid structure. Such an electrolyte enables a long cycle life over 2000 h in the Zn||Zn cell and a high Coulombic efficiency of >99.5% for 700 cycles in the Zn||Ti cell. Therefore, both Zn||Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 batteries and Zn||activated carbon capacitors in this electrolyte exhibit improved cycling performance.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have achieved a triumph in the market of portable electronic devices since their commercialization in the 1990s due to their high energy density. However, safety issue originating from the flammable, volatile, and toxic organic liquid electrolytes remains a long-standing problem to be solved. Alternatively, composite solid electrolytes (CSEs) have gradually become one of the most promising candidates due to their higher safety and stable electrochemical performance. However, the uniform dispersity of ceramic filler within the polymer matrix remains to be addressed. Generally, all-solid-state lithium metal batteries without any liquid components suffer from poor interfacial contact and low ionic conductivity, which seriously affect the electrochemical performance. Here we report a CSE consisting of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI), polydopamine (PDA) coated Li 6.4 La 3 Zr 1.4 Ta 0.6 O 12 (LLZTO) (denoted as PDA@LLZTO) microfiller, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP). Introducing only 4 μL of liquid electrolyte at the electrode|electrolyte interface, the CSE-based cells exhibit high ionic conductivity (0.4 × 10 −3 S cm −1 at 25 °C), superior cycle stability, and excellent thermal stability. Even under low temperatures, the impressive electrochemical performance (78.8% of capacity retention after 400 cycles at 1 C, 0 °C, and decent capacities delivered even at low temperature of −20 °C) highlights the potential of such quasi-solid-state lithium metal batteries as a viable solution for the next-generation high-performance lithium metal batteries.

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Oily sludge, as a critical hazardous waste, requires appropriate treatment for resource recovery and harmfulness reduction. Here, fast microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MAP) of oily sludge was conducted for oil removal and fuel production. The results indicated the priority of the fast MAP compared with the MAP under premixing mode, with the oil content in solid residues after pyrolysis reaching below 0.2%. The effects of pyrolysis temperature and time on product distribution and compositions were examined. In addition, pyrolysis kinetics can be well described using the Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) and the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) methods, with the activation energy being 169.7–319.1 kJ/mol in the feedstock conversional fraction range of 0.2–0.7. Subsequently, the pyrolysis residues were further treated by thermal plasma vitrification to immobilize the existing heavy metals. The amorphous phase and the glassy matrix were formed in the molten slags, resulting in bonding and, hence, immobilization of heavy metals. Operating parameters, including working current and melting time, were optimized to reduce the leaching concentrations of heavy metals, as well as to decrease their volatilization during vitrification.